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London council told to act after tenant dies from balcony fall
A London council has been told to act to prevent future deaths after a tenant died following a fall from her balcony while she was cleaning a blocked drainpipe.
Sarah McGreevy died aged 37 from injuries sustained when she fell from her sixth-floor balcony on 16 June. She was a tenant who lived in a two-bedroom flat owned by Hackney Council.
An investigation into Ms McGreevy’s death began on 2 July and the inquest concluded on 6 November. It discovered that there was a wooden box on the balcony and Ms McGreevy’s mobile phone was on a window ledge by a drainpipe which had previously been repaired using “heavy-duty tape”.
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Sarah Bourke, assistant coroner for Inner North London, said: “It was more likely than not that Ms McGreevy had climbed onto the wooden box to clear the pipe and had accidentally fallen over the balcony.”
Residents had made police officers aware of problems with the guttering and drainpipes in the block, the report noted. Police were told of residents on the fifth and sixth floors climbing onto their balconies to unblock pipes, particularly following heavy rainfall.
Photographs taken of Ms McGreevy’s hands after her death showed dirt around her fingernails “consistent with undertaking a cleaning task”.
Ms Bourke said: “In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken.”
She added: “In the absence of remedial works, the practice of residents unblocking pipes themselves is likely to continue.”
Hackney Council must respond to the coroner’s report by 1 January 2025 with details of action taken or proposed to be taken.
A Hackney Council spokesperson said: “This is a tragic case and our thoughts are with the friends and family of Sarah McGreevy.
“The coroner has detailed a number of issues for us to consider in her prevention of future deaths report.
“We do not expect anyone living in a Hackney Council home to clean their own guttering and, like the coroner, we want to ensure an incident like this doesn’t happen again. We will be carefully going through her report and responding as quickly as possible.”
Earlier this year, two children fell to their deaths from the upper floors of two blocks of flats in London. Inside Housing investigated the ensuing questions of window safety and landlord responsibility.
